Worlds of Goya

Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746-L828) was one of the most influential figures in Spanish art. He was also extremely important in the development of modern aesthetic sensibility, a forerunner of Romanticism, both in the content of his paintings, with their in-depth exploration of reality and references to the dream world, and in his very original technique.

His work embodies his personal imaginative visions, defying traditional academicism and conventional subjects. Goya described himself as a pupil of Velazquez, Rembrandt, and nature: from Velazquez, he acquired a feeling for softly shaded colour, applied in layers: from Rembrandt, his predilection for dark and mysterious background settings; and from nature, he took an endless variety of forms, some beautiful, some not. [source]

Goya was a keen observer of contemporary society and recorded the sense of unease caused by Spain's moral and political crisis in the closing years of the 18th century: he also portrayed with dexterity the picturesque quality and gaiety of the life of Madrid's majas; the religious life of the people and the enthusiasm for progress and technology. [source]

Goya was liberal minded, a man of the Enlightenment, and his social circle was made Lip of progressive intellectuals. He turned his attention to the world of the dispossessed — in The Wounded Mason and Winter (1786-87). for example -and later to the mysterious world of sorcery and witchcraft, which was already popular among writers of the time. lie also strongly and graphically denounced injustice and cruelty, and the false morality and bigotry of religious hypocrites. In his Los Caprichos series (l797-99). Goya highlighted the evils of ignorance and superstition, attempting to exorcise them with his mercilessly lucid portrayals.As chief Court painter, he painted superb portraits of the Spanish nobility and royalty, often influenced by Velazquez; echoes of the famous Las Meninas are evident in The Family of Charles IV. Using extraordinarily skilful pictorial effects, he accurately portrayed the Rococo opulence of furnishings and fashions, the aristocratic assurance of his subjects' poses, while subtly recording the pettiness and vanity of a corrupt and complacent ruling class. The French invasion, the subsequent popular uprising, the horrors of war. and disillusion at the realization that the supposed liberators were merely new oppressors, all prompted Goya to bear witness to events either in a realistic or an allegorical manner; his series of etchings The Disasters of War (1810-20) brings to mind Callot's earlier series. In 1819, he became seriously ill, and grew more introspective. He embarked on the strange and brilliant "black paintings'' cycle, which combined a very personal vision with his persistent religious themes. His preoccupation with human folly lasted right up until his death in 1828. [source]